Thriving in the Asian century by Matt Wade

…7 out of Australia’s top 10 export markets are in Asia and they account for 66 per cent of our exports…

The Diversity Council Australia surveyed a nationally representative sample of more than 2000 Australian workers to assess our Asia capability – what the report describes as “AQ.” It found only one in 10 Australian workers have “excellent” Asia capability. One in three had very little or no Asia capability and two-thirds have no or very little working knowledge of how to manage in Asian business contexts. Only 5 per cent of Australian workers are fluent in one or more Asian languages (meaning they could comfortably discuss and write about complex issues with colleagues or clients in an Asian language)…